Railroad-rail.



No. 860,693., PATENTED JULY 23, 1907.

J. G. REED.

RAILROAD RAIL. APPLIOATION FILED JAN.29,1907.

a sums-sum 1 N0-86m693. PATENTBD JULY 23,1901

' J.G.RBED.

RAILROAD RAIL. APPLICATION FILED JAN.29,'1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

JOHN G. REED, OF ORWIGSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILROAD-RAIL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 23, 1907.

Application filed January 29, 1907. Serial No. 354.655.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN G. REED, a citizen of the United States, residing at Orwigsburg, in the county of Schuylkill, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad- Rails; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full/clear, and exact description of the invention, such' as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to railroad rails and more particularly to curved rails.

It is a well known fact to those skilled in railroading that there is a tremendous strain upon the outer rail of the track at a curve especially when the train at high speed is rounding the curve. In view of this fact my invention has for its object, primarily, to provide a rail which in itself will effectually resist such strain and also to provide a novel form of rail joint for such a rail whereby the strain will also be resisted at the joint as effectually as at other points.

Broadly speaking the rail embodied in my invention has formed upon it and projecting laterally and thence upwardly from its tread a gradually narrowed flange against which the outer side of the car Wheels abut when rounding the curve. This flange has for its object to prevent the train leaving the track and in order to firmly brace the rails against the line of force exerted upon them rail braces 01' supports are formed integral with the flange at certain points in the length of the rail and are secured at their lower ends to the ties. These braces or supports are inclined moreover at such an angle that they are in a direct line with the line of force exerted upon them.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a track curve showing the application of my invention, Fig. 2 is a similar view in detail showing the manner of joining the rail ends, Fig. 3 is a detail vertical sectional View through the rail at one point, Fig. 4 is a similar view but taken in a line with one of the rail braces, and, Fig. 5 is a view in elevation and in detail of a portion of the rail.

Referring more specifically to the drawings there is shown in Fig. 1 a track section in which one of the rails, namely the outer rail or the rail having the greater radius, is constructed in accordance with my invention. The rail is indicated by the numeral 10 and has the usual base flange 11 and tread 12. Formed integral with the rail and at one side thereof and continuously is a flange 13 which is considerably thicker at its point of connection with the rail than at its outermost edge. This flange is extended laterally in an upward direction and is thence turned directly upwardly as indicated by the numeral 14 and the upper face and the inner face of the flange are formed as a continuation of the tread 12 whereas the outer and under faces of the flange are formed as a continuation of the outer face of the web of the rail as indicated at 15 and as clearly shown in the sectional views of the drawings.

In order to firmly brace the rail against any tendency toward movement due to the intense strain placed upon it by a fast moving train, I have provided at certain points along the rail and at the outer side thereof, rail braces or supports. These supports are preferably about the width of a tie and are hence substantially in the form of a plate and they are indicated by the numeral 16 and are shown as being formed integral at their upper edges with the upper portion of the outer face of the flange 14. From this point the braces or supports are extended downwardly in an inclined plane and are bolted or otherwise secured as at 17 to a tie 18. The angle of inclination of these braces or supports is such that they extend in a direct line with the strain exerted upon the rail.

From the above it will be readily understood that as the outer edge of each wheel at the side of the track to which the rail is located, engages the upstanding flange 13 thereon, the wheels are effectually prevented from leaving the track and that as these braces 01' supports are extended in direct line with the line of force exerted upon the rail, the rail is securely held against any tendency toward movement.

In Fig. 2 of the drawings I have clearly illustrated the manner of joining the meeting ends of two rails constructed in accordance with my invention and in this figure the body of the rail is shown as having its said end beveled as at 19 and its flange also beveled as at 20 but to a much greater degree. The corresponding end of the other rail has its body portion and its flange beveled to the same degree but so as to be received against the beveled end faces of the first mentioned rail as clearly indicated at 21 and 22 respectively. From this it will be observed that the beveled portion of the flange of the last mentioned rail will rest against the corresponding portion of the flange in the first mentioned rail and that the tendency of the force exerted upon the rail is to force the portions 22 out- 

